It's You
by QueenCate
Summary: [Oneshot, AU] Jude is heartbroken in more ways than one. Can the one guy she's always wanted change that?


The tears were fighting to overcome her voice, her beautiful voice. That voice was what made him fall in love with her. Well, the first thing, anyway. He could see those offending tears glistening in her once-vivid emerald eyes, now lackluster and dull, their only sparkle coming from the light glinting off the pools gathering in them. All he wanted was to wrap his arm around her and wipe away the wet streaks on her face. It took every ounce of self-control that he hadn't already used on her to keep from doing just that. And then she was gone, enveloped by an applauding crowd, most of whom oblivious to the pain she was so obviously feeling He struggled to follow, fighting against the jostling of the crew backstage. Where had she disappeared to? There, a flash of red hair. He had found her.

He waited, waited for a chance to corner to, to comfort her. And when the opportunity presented itself, he snatched it without and single thought as to what, exactly, he would say or do.

"That song, it was amazing."

She turned, surveying him silently with those entrancing eyes of hers.

"Not exactly how I meant to inspire you…" he trailed off, knowing she deserved so much more than he had given her.

She rolled her eyes, always the 'insolent teen' the media trumpeted her to be, and asked in a resigned voice, "What do you want, Tommy?"

He took a deep breath. "To apologize." Off her doubtful look, he added, "For real this time. Even though hurting you was the last thing I ever wanted to do."

"Get over yourself, Quincy," she told him. "Grow up. Not everything's about you."

The door slammed and his head reeled back as a wave of anger, frustration, and heartache smacked into him. Slowly, he dropped it into his hand. She was hurting. His girl, the one person in the world who understood him so perfectly and accepted him so willingly, was hurting. Truly hurting. And all he seemed to do was make it worse.

What had she meant, it wasn't about him? Well, Shay was obviously a large part of it, but he knew her. There was something more. Some hidden anguish toiled behind those trusting eyes of hers. He had caught a glimpse of it just before she slammed the door. A memory flitted before his eyes. There she was, singing her heart out, most literally, and her darkened eyes kept straying to her father. He felt her anger and misery when she looked at him. Then he remembered Sadie, standing by the fence at her family's farm, confessing her real reason for dropping in.

"My dad's having an affair."

The words echoed in his ears, even as the memory gave way to another: Jude, running out of her house, screaming at him to go. He obeyed without question, glad just to be near her. Now he knew why she had changed her mind so abruptly. She had discovered her father's infidelity. His head whipped up and he stared at her closed dressing room door, as if he could will her to feel better. Yeah, right. But he had to do something. He couldn't just stand here while she dealt with this. He couldn't just stand here when what he really wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss her. Just like he had in the alley. No, don't go there, he ordered himself. That was a mistake. But such a wonderful mistake, that pesky side of his mind said, the part connected to his heart.

He couldn't do this. Something inside of him snapped. He had to do something. He had to make her his. Make her smile through the darkness, somehow. Smiling slightly, he pulled out his phone and thumbed through the contacts until he found what he was looking for.

"Hey, Kwest, man. I need a favor, no questions asked."

---x---

Jude slammed the front door and walked slowly up the stairs. She had the house to herself, and instead of the joy this usually brought her, all it succeeded in doing was making her feel emptier. Dad was gone, Sadie was staying at a friend's, and who knew where Mom was. Probably get trashed at a bar. That's were Jude would love to be. Just drink away her troubles. At least for a little while. Tommy's face floated before her and she squeezed her eyes shut, willing the image to go away. She couldn't deal with it right now. First Shay, then Tommy, and now her dad. It was like a heartbreak hat trick, each deception and heart wrenching event worse than the last.

The familiar strains of "It Could Be You" reached her ears. Her brow furrowed and her curiosity piqued, she went to investigate, following the sound to the dining room. There stood Tommy. Obviously willpower didn't work when it came to getting rid of unwanted images and people.

"Did you really think I stopped hating you already?" she asked. She paused, looking slowly around the room. It was filled with daisies. Her favorite. Thousands and thousands of daisies. "Tommy?" she asked cautiously. "What're you doing?"

He smiled and she felt her heart break for the millionth time in a week, the pieces scattering and flying off in different directions. "Jude. I made a mistake."

"Yeah, you've made that pretty clear. But thanks for dropping by to rub it in some more." She turned to leave and he stepped forward, grabbing her arm.

"Jude, wait." He turned her around to face him. "I made a mistake, but kissing you wasn't it. It was trying to pretend I didn't. I don't want that anymore than you do."

"Could've fooled me," she muttered bitterly.

He reached out and tilted her chin upwards, so that she was staring him in the eye. He was glad to see some semblance of the old spark was fighting to return. "I love you, Jude. I'm not going to try and deny it any longer. I. Love. You."

"Is this some kind of trick?" she asked dubiously. She had lost so much of her innocence in the past week.

"No, no trick. I mean it with all my heart."

A grin spread across her face, lighting it up. The spark broke free of its chains and reclaimed its rightful place, shining brightly. Perhaps not as brightly as it once had, but sparkling all the same. "Really?"

"Yes, really," he told her, grinning back.

She stood on tip toe and her lips found his. And at that moment, everything else faded away. Her dad, Shay, everything. All that mattered was that the guy she loved finally loved her back. And she hadn't even had to wait til she was twenty-one.

---x---

I originally wrote this for my friend since we're both huge TommyJude shippers and were totally bummed about how season one ended. Stupid Jamie.


End file.
